Monsters' Nicholas Alexander Chavez Says 'I Sympathize' with Menéndez Brothers as He Talks Response to Series (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicholas Alexander Chavez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story’ (left); Nicholas Chavez at the New York City ‘Grotesquerie’ premiere on Sept. 23, 2024.Photo:Miles Crist/Netflix; John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Miles Crist/Netflix; John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez StorystarNicholas Alexander Chavezsays he sympathizes with the Menéndez brothers after the release of the Netflix series.

While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of another one of his recentRyan Murphyprojects — the seriesGrotesquerie— on Monday, Sept. 23, Chavez, 25, discussed taking on the role ofLyle MenéndezinMonstersand whether he was nervous for the series to come out.

“I really sympathize with the brothers, the fact that this was the most traumatic moment of their life, and then having that put on television for the world to see. I would imagine that would be incredibly heavy,” Chavez told PEOPLE of the series' release.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez at the ‘Grotesquerie’ premiere on Sept. 23, 2024.Ben Hider/PictureGroup for FX/Shutterstock

Ben Hider/PictureGroup for FX/Shutterstock

Erik recently criticized the show’s portrayal of himself and Lyle in aFacebookpost, calling “the facts” of their lives “inaccurate.”

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show," Erik said in the post.

When asked if he’d spoken to Lyle himself during the process of filming the show, Chavez insisted he hadn’t and that he’d just been told about Erik’s response.

“No, I did not,” he told PEOPLE on Monday of whether he’d been in communication with Lyle.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix

Miles Crist/Netflix

He said he realizes the responses to such a show have probably been “varied, as they should be.”

“It’s sensitive subject matter and I imagine that everyone is forming their own interpretations of what happened as we imagined and intended that they would,” Chavez told PEOPLE of the reaction.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez (left) and Cooper Koch in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix

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“So, we were not the ones who told the story about our lives,” Erik said. “Two kids don’t commit this crime for money.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Storyis out now on Netflix.Grotesqueriepremieres its first two episodes on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

source: people.com